Author Archive

DVD Review: Strange Fruit – The Beatles’ Apple Records

Update 5/2014: Apparently everybody’s happy now, and the video is available on Hulu. — bk Update 4/2012: I have just learned that Apple Records has intervened to halt distribution of […]

Album Review: Todd Rundgren’s Utopia – Live at Hammersmith Odeon ‘75

In the early 1970s, Todd Rundgren was rightly known as a pop wunderkind, a sort of rock renaissance man. Breaking free of his mod-influenced 60s band Nazz, he created a […]

Album Review: McGough & McGear

Unless you’re a student of Beatles arcana and ephemera, you’re probably not familiar with an act called McGough & McGear. If you grew up in the England of the late […]

Album Review: Graffiti6 – Colours

What’s sort of funny is that I rarely venture into such pop(ular) territory as a release like Graffiti6‘s Colours. But the record’s irresistibly catchy, infectious vibe makes it worth of […]

Album Review: World Party – Arkeology

Karl Wallinger forced my car off the road. Really, he did. It was sometime in 1990; I was driving in the car with my then-wife and newborn daughter as passengers. […]

Album Review: Various Artists – Raunchy Sugar: The Pure Essence of Memphis Rock & Roll

When one thinks of early rock’n’roll coming out of Memphis, it’s likely that the first names springing to mind are Elvis, Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. And for […]

Album Review: James Morrison – The Awakening

I have what I think is a bit of interesting history where the music of James Morrison is concerned. His debut album was released (in the USA) in early 2007. […]

Album Review: Capsula – In the Land of Silver Souls

Rock’n’roll may well be an American invention, but that doesn’t mean that musicians from other countries can’t credibly create enduring works. And not just the usual suspects (England, Canada and […]

Album Review: Gentle Giant – Octopus

On their third album, 1972’s Octopus, Gentle Giant delivered a collection of songs that ranked among their best. With a sound that synthesized their medieval/renaissance aesthetic wedded to a jazzy […]

Album Review: The Right Now – Gets Over You

Everything old is new again, same as it ever was. Recent years have seen the rise of acts evoking the best of the Stax and Detroit soul sounds. Whether it’s […]